Divine Beast Ascension

The prefecture lords went quiet, as did the entire colosseum.

After a short round of applause, God Toseko stood up and walked to the edge of their platform. “Young swordsman, what is your name?”

Vant stopped in his tracks and bowed. “My name is Vant, your omnipotence!”

“Vant... You have amazing talent and skill, Vant,” Toseko complimented, startling the lords into further silence. “It’s rare that a perennial can master invisibility on a divine level, let alone a mortal. May I ask, who was it that taught you such skills?”

“May I lift my head and point out my master?” Vant asked.

“Of course.”

.....

Raising his head briefly, Vant bowed his head in another direction and pointed at Vloz. “Your omnipotence, my master is Vloz, the Blood-spotted Leopard.”

“Vloz... I’ll remember that name.” Toseko waved to Vloz, getting an immediate bow from the big cat. “I’m merely intrigued, is all. You’re not even a king, yet you’ve trained such an amazing candidate.”

“Your omnipotence,” Vloz replied, “Such kind words are wasted on a man of so little talent, such as myself. I’m merely lucky to have amazing students and private pupils.”

“Students? Private pupils?” Smiling and already knowing part of the answer, Toseko asked, “By chance, are any more of your pupils participating today?”

Isaac opened his mouth and nearly shouted in fury, but wouldn’t dare to interrupt God Toseko.

“I do,” answered Vloz. “I was hired to teach and train the candidates of Toxic-shadow. However, I only have three direct pupils. One is King Zelsh’s son, who isn’t here due to his low cultivation. Another is Vant, who you just witnessed in battle. And my first ever pupil will be fighting in the third duel on behalf of the Nova Prefecture.”

“Which candidate?”

The moment the question was asked, Netra got up and bowed her head to the god. “That would be me, your omnipotence. My name is Netra, from Iron Territory.”

“So you’re from here? And... with no divine bloodline? Yet you have such steady flowing essence... Do you have perfect affinity?” asked Toseko, cutting right to the chase.

Netra said nothing, catching the god off guard. Instead, Netra raised her head and retrieved a piece of magicite ore from her void choker. She filled the magicite with essence and it hastily shattered before everyone’s eyes. “I’ve been told that this means I have perfect affinity. Is that true?”

“... That is certainly true.” Nodding, Toseko’s grin became wily. “Thank you for demonstrating. I look forward to your match, Netra. Congratulations, Vloz, on training such candidates while not even at the king realm. And well done, Vant, I also look forward to seeing more from you.”

Toseko then returned to his seat, not saying a word about his intentions to any of the prefecture lords.

‘That bastard...’ scoffed the mysterious man, catching Treeda off guard. ‘Keep an eye on Isaac. Don’t let him suddenly act out.’

Treeda silently nodded in response.

“... Contestants numbered four, come down!” Slazza shouted, getting the exhibition back into a rhythm.

Irked, Isla commented, “Another human? Why do you have more humans than me?”

Shrugging, Treeda answered, “It all depends on the year. A decade ago, I didn’t have any human candidates. This time, some just happened to be human.”

Korvik entered the arena and stood across from a giant lizard, two-krin tall and four-krin long. There were huge, sharp spikes all over its body, from the top of the lizard’s head to the tip of its tail.

“A Desert Devil versus a human! Are you two ready?” asked Slazza, getting two emphatic nods. “FIGHT!”

Two shortswords appeared in Korvik’s hands. Flames filled one blade and steam radiated from the other.

The lizard raced forward with great speed, despite its size. Its tail was swung around like a club. However, the tail wasn’t aiming for Korvik. The club tail tore through the ground and hurled boulders while aiming for the dirt under Korvik’s feet.

Unafraid, Korvik leaped forward. The steaming sword froze over and created a hook at the end, helping Korvik launch off the lizard’s tail and land on its back.

“Fool,” the lizard chuckled, already burrowing and half underground.

Yet Korvik didn’t jump away or flinch. The frost around his ice sword suddenly started to spiral up and down the blade. At the same time, Korvik used his sawing blade to carve into the lizard’s back. And by the time the lizard was underground, the Desert Devil could either try to attack Korvik or try to escape the pain.

However, Korvik’s flaming sword was speedily plunged into the exposed flesh. Fire erupted out of the hole in the ground, also torching the inside of the lizard’s body.

“It’s over!” Slazza shouted, making sure they heard him.

The flames dissipated and Korvik emerged from the hole. The lizard dug himself a new hole, making sure to get away from Korvik’s strange sword attacks while panting wildly.

As a healing salve was applied, Slazza announced, “The winner is Toxic-shadow Prefecture! That brings the point total to one win for the Draco Prefecture and two wins for the Toxic-shadow Prefecture! The final match will decide it all! Contestants, come down!”

Just like the other contestants from Toxic-shadow, Korvik offered a bow to his opponent before returning to his seat in polite silence.

“That attack was new, wasn’t it?” commented Inka. “Why didn’t the boy use that icy saw art back when he fought my perfect candidate?”

Treeda replied, “That’s what he’s been working on lately. He was determined to find a better attack to create holes in the strongest defenses.”

Nodding, Warak commented, “Interesting. Which means you respect my kind so much that you’re strategizing against us specifically? What a compliment!”

“It’s a well-deserved compliment,” Treeda added, already set on the final outcome. “Isla, no hard feelings?”

“There’s still another match. And, my last contestant just so happens to be my strongest,” stated Isla, never budging. “God Toseko, what would happen in the case of a tie?”